I used to see plain shirts with little embroidered designs on them and think ‘Oh that’s so pretty!’. Buying them, however, used to come with a bigger price tag. What’s the solution? I decided to try to embroider a shirt by hand, myself!
If you want to give it a shot, here’s how I did it:
What you’ll need:
- Shirt (for beginners, let’s stick to cotton or linen)
- Embroidery hoop (trust me, you’ll need this to keep the fabric taut and easy to work with)
- Embroidery floss (choose your favorite colors – they can either blend in with the shirt color or provide a contrast)
- Embroidery needle
- Fabric marker or tailor’s chalk (I’ve always preferred markers over chalk as they’re easier to use and wash out)
- Scissors (small and sharp work best for thread-cutting)
- Your design template (either from a stencil or a freehand design)
- Fusible interfacing/stabilizer (for more delicate fabrics options – let’s wait till you’re more confident with cotton/linen)
Getting started:
First, choose your pattern or design. It can be simple flowers, text or even abstract shapes that are very forgiving for beginner embroiderers. Decide on the placement of the design and transfer or draw it out on the shirt using the fabric marker or chalk.
Next, make sure the shirt is clean and smooth – iron out any wrinkles, especially where you plan to embroider. Open up and separate the embroidery hoop, place the area of the shirt you want to work on in the middle of the inner hoop, making sure the fabric is stretched out smoothly. Place the outer hoop on top of the fabric (sandwiching it between both hoops) and tighten the screw.
Cut off a length of embroidery floss based on the size of your star outline (if you’re not sure, you can just start off with a 10-inch length). Separate the strands of the embroidery floss (they usually have 6 strands, so you can use 1-2 for a delicate look or 3 and more for a bolder outline), thread your needle and tie off a knot at the end.
Now, let’s start embroidering! The simplest stitch you can use is the running stitch, which is great for loose outlines. From under the hoop, bring your needle up through the fabric at your starting point (Point A). About 1/8inch away, push the needle down through the fabric (Point B) and bring it up again at another 1/8in point (Point C). Repeat this all around the design until the outline is complete, tie off a knot, snip the floss and you’re all set! As you sew, make sure your fabric stays taut on the hoop, to make it easier to produce neat, even stitches.
The running stitch creates an outline with gaps. If you prefer a full line, or you’re embroidering text, use a backstitch instead. Just as before, start from under the hoop and push up (Point A), but this time insert it back into the fabric a short distance behind (Point B). Bring it up again one stitch-length ahead of Point A (Point C). Repeat by bringing the needle down back at Point A and up at another stitch-length beyond Point C (Point D) and just keep going until the outline or text is complete. Tie off your floss with a knot at the back, and trim any loose ends.
You can then use a satin stitch to fill up your design outline (if you want!). Bring the needle up at one side of the design shape and insert it directly across the design. Repeat the stitches very closely side by side to fill it in.
Once you’re done, remove the material from the embroidery hoop, place a thin towel or another layer of fabric on top of the embroidery and press lightly with a warm iron to bury the stitches and smoothen out the fabric. The marks from the fabric marker can either be washed out or will gradually fade on its own. And there you have it – your very own embroidered shirt!
How can you increase your chances of making something pretty?
Let’s face it – we all want our projects to come out at least reasonably successful, right? Especially when we’ve spent hours working on those teeny tiny stitches… so here are some tips that can help:
- Use a light-colored shirt with a contrasting floss for your first project, so your design is easy to see.
- Keep your tension even. If you pull too tight, the fabric will pucker and it will be tough to smoothen it out later.
- Keep your stitches relatively small and the same size. Bigger stitches are easier and faster, but they also make mistakes more obvious. Smaller stitches look more uniform and appealing to the (my) eye.
- Start with simple designs. Don’t be overly ambitious with complex patterns needing different stitches for your first time! You want to build up your confidence as you work up to more complicated patterns and color combos.
- Practice, practice, practice your stitches! Especially the fancier ones – you don’t want to ruin a perfectly good shirt with numerous holes from pulled-out stitches. Use fabric scraps similar to the shirt material to practice your stitches on.
- For more delicate fabric, you can use a fusible stabilizer/interfacing on the inside of the shirt, just where your embroidery is going to be. It strengthens and stabilizes the fabric, and makes it easier to sew on. There are washable and tear-away options available at most good sewing supply shops.